Index

Today we bring you MSI’s R4890 Cyclone SOC graphics card, which runs at an impressive 1GHz. Apart from the higher clocks, MSI’s card is pretty famous for its large Cyclone cooling, which is one of the largest coolers we’ve seen on graphics cards so far. As usual you can view pictures in higher resolution by clicking them.

Before we move on to discuss MSI’s top model, let us recap what the reference HD 4890 is about. The ticker found in Radeon HD 4890 cards is the RV790 core, which is actually an improved version of the RV770 core. The basic specs have stayed the same, but the clocks have gotten a significant boost. Radeon HD 4890’s reference clocks are at 850MHz core, which was a pretty tough to reach on the HD 4870, even with the water-cooled cards. The new GPU is thankfully much more flexible and allows for overclocking beyond the magical 1GHz threshold. This is at the same time the reason why AMD allowed for overclocked HD4890 cards from day one, and although initial OC cards were running at 900MHz, it didn’t take long for the 1GHz versions to catch up.

The reference HD 4890 card comes with 1GB of GDDR5 memory, DirectX 10.1 support, 800 stream processing units, Unified Video Decoder 2 (second generation), HDMI support with 7.1 surround, PCI-Express 2.0, dynamic GPU power management, and the list goes on. The DirectX 10.1 support can be put to use in certain games such as HAWX, so if you use Vista or Windows 7 you can easily get more frames if you turn the DX10.1 on.

MSI R4890 Cyclone SOC packs all the good things that grace the reference HD 4890, whereas the not-so-good ones, such as the cooling, have been replaced. The R4890 Cyclone SOC comes with a large 10cm PWM fan and MSI claims using this cooler will result in up to 60% more airflow than with the reference cooling. Due to the size of the cooling, it’s possible to decrease the fan RPM, thus lowering noise levels as well, while still keeping the cooling efficiency. The fan is located in the center, in order to maximize efficiency.

In order to transfer heat from the base to the cooling fins, MSI used two large SuperPipe heatpipes and two smaller, standard-sized heatpipes . MSI uses the term SuperPipe for the 8mm diameter heatpipes, which do a lot to improve heat-transfer and cooling efficiency.

The Cyclone cooling’s heatpipes start at the large base, which leans on the GPU, and travel in a semicircle around the fan, and thus they’re cooled at every point. Since there are two heatpipes on each side of the GPU, MSI handled this by elevating the SuperPipe and placing it at about 2cm above the PCB. Such moves resulted in a card that is about 13cm high.

MSI made sure that the card is made with quality Hi-C CaP capacitors with tantalum core, which are currently the top of the offer. For some reason though, MSI is calling them Military Class components, together with the Solid State Chokes and Solid CAP used on the R4890 Cyclone card.

In order for the Cyclone's core to run stable at 1000MHz, it naturally needs more power in comparison to the reference card's 850MHz. Unfortunately for R4890 Cyclone SOC, the consumption is not just a bit higher, as we're talking about up to 50W more compared to the reference card, and up to 10W more in idle mode.

MSI made good use of the RV790 overclocking potential and made the R4890 Cyclone SOC – one of the better HD4890 around. The fact that it’s not using a bit too loud reference cooling is just one of the good things about this card.

With the Cyclone cooler, MSI managed to hit the sweet spot between good cooling and silence. While running, the cooling keeps the core at about 81°C, while at the same time staying well below the noise levels on the reference card, which easily goes over 90°C in the same scenarios. Still, Cyclone isn’t inaudible either, as you’ll hear it while the GPU is in 3D mode, but it’s still not too loud and definitely a progress compared to the reference design.

The card will draw power from two 6-pin power connectors. The following picture shows the Cyclone cooling’s proximity to the power components, but they are cooled only by the air pushed from the fan. Since we’re talking Military Class components, this means the power regulation circuitry will run fine at higher temperatures that might occur during using an HD 4890.

The packaging is tough and comes with a handle, but this time it’s much prettier than we’re used to see from MSI. There are no ugly monsters we’ve almost grown used to seeing on MSI’s graphics card, but rather a large picture of Cyclone cooling. This is a wise choice as this is the main thing that makes it special compared to other Radeon HD 4890 cards. The color scheme is black and white, and the box puts a large emphasis on Cyclone cooling. Of course, MSI didn’t forget to highlight the fact that the card is overclocked and that only top Military Class components have been used in the manufacturing process.

The packaging contains the basics – the driver CD and two PCI-E power cables.

The R4890 Cyclone card uses its high clocks to leave the reference HD 4890 behind by as much as 12%. We were quite pleased with gaming results as well, as certain resolutions score up to 30% better results than the reference card.

Games

Far Cry2

This muscle hungry game sees the Cyclone SOC card beat the reference HD 4890 by up to 10% at all the tested resolutions, whereas the highest gap made by the Cyclone SOC between it and the reference card was 14.9%.

HAWX

HAWX seems to be the game that really likes MSI Cyclone R4890 SOC, and all the tested resolutions report a significant advantage over the reference HD 4890.

Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead and World in Conflict report the R4890 to be up to 12% faster than the reference HD 4890.

World in Conflict

Conclusion

We’ve had the honor to put MSI’s R4890 Cyclone SOC 1GHz card through its paces today, and MSI has entered the circle of the brave ones who’ve dared to overclock the Radeon HD 4890 so high. In order to improve the somewhat loud reference cooling, MSI used its Cyclone cooler, which comes with a large 100mm fan and SuperPipe technology.

The Cyclone cooling however isn’t quite inaudible, but it’s not loud either, which can’t be said for reference HD 4890 cooling. MSI hit a perfect sweet spot between cooling efficiency on the 1GHz RV790 core and the noise, which no one likes.

The card is manufactured with quality Military Class components, which ensure stability and long life. Note that the card features native HDMI out as well as the standard DVI out. Note however that the higher clocks and thus higher performance will result in higher consumption than on the reference card, both during operation and when idle.

With 1GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 4000MHz, MSI’s card is ready to take on any a challenger, even at highest resolutions. We’ve even done further overclocking and hit 1025MHz core and 4400MHz memory, which goes a long way to show that default speeds will run perfectly stable.

Of course, further overclocking isn’t covered by the warranty so we don’t advise you to try and/or do so, but rest assured that the 1GHz GPU will be more than enough to satisfy your need for speed.